Oven rack tool

ABSTRACT

An oven rack insertion and removal tool ( 1, 18 ) has a grasping handle end ( 4 ) on a proximal end ( 2 ) and a rack insertion notch ( 6 ) and extraction notch ( 5 ) on a distal end ( 3 ). One embodiment is provided having only one notch ( 15 ) for both extracting and inserting an oven rack. The tool may have an eye hook ( 7 ) for hanging the tool on a nail or hook proximate an oven ( 10 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a kitchen tool, more particularly a utensil for partially extracting and inserting an oven rack.

Most often, when one is baking or roasting food in an oven the rack on which the food is being cooked becomes extremely hot. During the cooking process it is usually necessary to partially extract the rack to check the status of the food and then to re-insert it until cooking is completed, at which time the oven rack must be extracted to remove the food. Normally, to decrease the likelihood of being burned when touching the rack one uses mitts, gloves or a towel over one's hand. Unfortunately, such items are frequently out of reach, misplaced or can't be found when needed and often are too bulky to use. Also, even when such items are available, the user must move very close to the heat of the oven, thereby exposing the face and arms to the heat or the splattering and/or spillage of hot juices or greases from the food being cooked. Accordingly, a need exists for at tool for extracting and inserting racks from an oven without exposing oneself to being burned.

The prior art includes the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Filing Date Issue Date D 459,173 Kelleghan Aug. 11, 2000 Jun. 25, 2002 Des. 433,899 Saffron et al. Mar. 13, 2000 Nov. 21, 2000 Des. 279,645 Makris Nov. 21, 1983 Jul. 16, 1985 Des. 237,581 Pasquale Jun. 27, 1974 Nov. 11, 1975 Des. 429,124 Sutton Nov. 05, 1999 Aug. 08, 2000 Des. 256,655 Lacey Jan. 31, 1979 Sep. 02, 1980 Des. 267,620 Efron Mar. 23, 1981 Jan. 18, 1983 Des. 261,595 Yellin Jul. 02, 1979 Nov. 03, 1981 2,571,943 Ray et al. May 27, 1949 Oct. 16, 1951 Des. 256,875 Slagle, IV Apr. 19, 1979 Sep. 16, 1980

Although some of the tools disclosed in these prior patents are utilized for the same purpose, none has the same structure as the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a tool for partially inserting or extracting an oven rack.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which decreases th likelihood of injury due to a hot rack.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which eliminates the need to use bulky gloves or mitts when inserting or extracting a rack from an oven.

An even further object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which can be located in a position proximate to the oven so that it is readily available for use.

The present invention accomplishes the above and other objects by providing a tool for extracting and inserting a rack of an oven made of a substantially planar rigid piece of material having proximal and distal ends. The proximal end has a handle for grasping by a user's hand and the distal end has at least one notch capable of being placed over a front bar of an oven rack so the oven rack can be pulled to partially extract it from the oven or pushed to insert it into the oven. The tool may take any form, whether it be an animal, such as a fish, in which case the notch for inserting or pushing the rack into the oven may comprise the mouth and the notch for extracting the rack be contained on the underside of the head, a vegetable or whatever. The notch on the underside of the head could serve both purposes of inserting and extracting the rack. The distal or handle end for pushing and grasping by the user could be a tail of the animal or fish. An eye hook could be attached to the tool, preferably on the distal end opposite the handle, so that the tool could be hung on a nail or hook proximate the oven to make it readily available for use.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

This invention is described by appended claims in relation to a description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of one embodiment of the oven rack tool of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the oven rack tool of FIG. 1 in use extracting an oven rack from an oven;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the oven rack tool of FIG. 1 inserting an oven rack into an oven; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of another embodiment of the oven rack tool having a notch used for both extracting and inserting an oven rack.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description. 1. Oven rack tool 2. Proximal end 3. Distal end 4. Handle 5. Extraction notch 6. Insertion notch 7. Eye hook 8. Top side 9. Bottom side 10. Oven 11. Oven door 12. Oven rack 13. Person's hand 14. Front bar of oven rack 15. Multi-use notch 16. Insertion portion 17. Extraction portion 18. One-notch embodiment

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a two-notch fish-shaped oven rack tool 1 is shown having a proximal end 2 and a distal end 3. The distal end 3 has a convex notch 6 for inserting or pushing an oven rack into an oven. The distal end 3 also has a forwardly directed hook notch 5 for extracting or pulling an oven rack from an oven. The proximal end 2, which is in the shape of a tail, forms a handle 4 for grasping by the user. An eye hook 7 may be inserted into the distal end 3 of the tool so that the tool 1 can be hung over a nail or hook proximate the oven so as to be readily available for use, unlike gloves or mitts which are often stored elsewhere and are not readily available when needed.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the fish-shaped embodiment of the tool 1 in actual use. In FIG. 4 the tool 1 is shown with the extraction notch 5 placed over the front bar 14 of the oven rack 12, with the user's hand grasping the handle section 4 on the proximal end of the tool 2, the rack 12 can be partially extracted or pulled from the oven 10 when the oven door 11 is opened. To re-insert or push the oven rack 12 back into the oven 10 all the user needs to do is to place the front bar 14 of the oven rack in the notch 6 on the distal end 3 of the tool and push inward until the rack 12 is completely in the oven 10 so that the door 11 can be closed.

Although FIGS. 1-4 have shown an embodiment of the invention employing two separate notches 5 and 6, for extracting and inserting, respectively, an oven rack, FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the oven rack tool 18 wherein only one notch 15 is employed. This multi-use notch 15 is substantially mushroom-shaped, as it has a forward convex extraction portion 17 for hooking over the front bar 14 of an oven rack and pulling it outward. The notch 15 also has an aft extracting portion section 16 for pushing the oven rack into the oven.

The oven rack tool of the present invention may take any form, a fish, an animal, a vegetable or whatever, so long as the tool would have at least one notch on a distal end for extracting and inserting an oven rack and a grasping handle on a proximal end.

A new and useful oven rack tool having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities or combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention. 

1. A tool for extracting and inserting a rack of an oven, said tool comprising: a substantially planar rigid piece of material having proximal and distal ends; the proximal end having a handle for grasping by a user's hand; and the distal end having at least one notch capable of being placed over a front bar of an oven rack for extracting and inserting the rack.
 2. The tool of claim 1 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end is a convex notch for pushing the oven rack into the oven.
 3. The tool of claim 1 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end is a forward curved notch for placing over the bar of the oven rack so the rack can be pulled outward from the oven.
 4. The tool of claim 2 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end includes a forward curved notch for placing over the bar of the oven rack so the rack can be pulled outward from the oven.
 5. The tool of claim 1 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and a forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
 6. The tool of claim 2 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and a forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
 7. The tool of claim 3 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and the forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
 8. The tool of claim 4 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and the forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
 9. The tool of claim 5 wherein the animal is a fish.
 10. The tool of claim 6 wherein the animal is a fish.
 11. The tool of claim 7 wherein the animal is a fish.
 12. The tool of claim 8 wherein the animal is a fish.
 13. The tool of claim 1 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 14. The tool of claim 2 wherein the distal end had an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 15. The tool of claim 3 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 16. The tool of claim 4 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 17. The tool of claim 5 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 18. The tool of claim 6 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 19. The tool of claim 7 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 20. The tool of claim 8 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 21. The tool of claim 9 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
 22. The tool of claim 1 wherein the tool is in the shape of a vegetable. 